


The Lotus and the Lesson

by steelehearts



Category: Mahabharata
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-05
Updated: 2011-09-05
Packaged: 2017-10-23 11:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/249583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelehearts/pseuds/steelehearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krishna decides to teach two of his pets a lesson. They fight it out, while Krishna has all the fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lotus and the Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toujours_nigel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toujours_nigel/gifts).



> This is not a fanfiction per se. This is a mythological story retold, albeit irreverently. I am all respect for these divinities and their original portrayals. I just think there is much humour waiting to be explored in the mythological stories often believed to be boring and stuffy.
> 
>  
> 
> Story culled from the Bengali Mahabharata, translated by Kashiram Das. Add-on dialogues by Steelehearts. :D

  


One day, Krishna asked Arjuna to get him some flowers. Golden lotuses, to be precise. Not for himself, but for his best beloved Rukmini. Because Rukmini was angry. Because Krishna had already given some of those wonderful flowers to Satyabhama. And so on and so forth… 

Now those lotuses were to be found in one place alone. In a banana grove, now don't ask me why. That particular banana grove was a favourite place of Hanumana's. He went there often to eat bananas.  

So that's where Arjuna went too. There were four monkeys on guard. Arjuna caught two of them by the scruffs of their necks and threw them away. The other two he dangled by their tails. And gathered as many flowers as he could. 

The monkeys complained to Hanumana.  _He pulled our tails!_  The elder son of Vayu came to investigate. He took the intruder to be a Kirata, and addressed him as such. Called him a stupid fool and bade him run away with his worthless life. Because he was Hanumana, the servant of the great Lord Rama, blah blah blah. 

Arjuna laughed at Hanumana. Called his lord and master, Rama, a coward. He had depended upon the Vanara Sena to build him a bridge across the sea. If Rama was as great an archer as Hanumana says, why did not he create a bridge of arrows, eh? Hanumana was a mere monkey and that is why he perceived every human archer as oh-so-great.  _Nyer nyer-nyer nyer-nyer_. 

Hanumana was visibly upset. He challenged Arjuna to - rest assured, dear reader, not a duel - a bridge-building feat. Across the sea. With nothing but arrows. He would see who was the better engineer. And he would cross the sea  _on that bridge_. _Woe betide the dirty little Kirata if the bridge broke_.  _Grrrr_. 

Arjuna constructed a bridge of arrows across the sea in no time. Hanumana was mighty surprised.  _Humph_. _This isn't a Kirata. Maybe it is a god in disguise? Wait. I will step on to the bridge. Just let me gain a_ leetle _bit of weight_... and Hanumana began to grow bigger and bigger. He picked up all the mountains of the world on his shoulders as well, just to be on the safe side. 

Now it was Arjuna who was upset. _Ye Gods! Look at the size of him! Why did I ever get into a quarrel with him, oh waily waily. Krishna, you annoying thing! Why did you put such naughty thoughts into my head? Yes, yes, go on, Hanumana. Break a leg._  


Krishna heard and grinned to himself. Pretty boy's in a nice fix, woo-hoo. However, pretty boy's to be cuddled. Mustn't hurt pretty boy. So, he took the form of a turtle and lay beneath the bridge, supporting it on his back.  

Hanumana stepped on to the bridge.  _One_ … the turtle groaned.  _Two_ … and blood welled out of the turtle's mouth. The sea turned red. Hanumana looked down in alarm. _What? What? What just happened?_  

He concentrated. His  _dhyana_  told him he was standing on top of his Lord Rama. Shocked at himself and at Arjuna, Hanumana jumped off the bridge. _Who are you?_ What _are you?_   

Krishna appeared then, as Rama the Archer, and bade the two make peace. Hanumana, Arjuna. Arjuna, Hanumana. Om shantih shantih. Now gimme those flowers.  

But, m'lord -  

Go eat a banana, Hanumana. 

But, dearest coz -  

You may join him, Arjuna. 

*** *** *** 


End file.
